Greg Keeton drove for 16 hours from Marion, Ind. Dean Dewey came five hours from Collingwood and Vern Greulick, his longtime friend and fellow Indiana University grad, made the four-and-a-half-hour hour trek from Schenectady, N.Y.

Meanwhile, the McClures and Fricks from Kendallville, Ind., currently on a fishing trip in Carleton Place, felt like they had won the lottery after discovering their beloved Indiana Hoosiers would be visiting the Carleton University Ravens as part of the Can-Am Shootout. Under normal circumstances, they literally can’t buy a ticket to see the Hoosiers play.

Considering all that, it should have come as no surprise that the crowd of 1,500 at the Ravens’ Nest featured no shortage of Indiana T-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps. The crowd from out of town left smiling as the Hoosiers capitalized on an ice-cold start by the Ravens to beat the four-time defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball-champion Ravens 95-85.

While Carleton is in the midst of a basketball dynasty — 10 national championships in the past 12 years — the attention basketball gets in Indiana is on another level, another planet.

Indiana basketball is all about history and histrionics. Think about Bob Knight, Gene Hackman and the hundreds of thousands of Indiana children who have been born with basketball on the brain for the past century.

“Everybody plays basketball, everybody has a hoop in their driveway,” Dewey said.

“There are 7,500 season tickets for Marion High School games and the city has a population of less than 40,000 … that’s all you need to know,” said Keeton.

Even though Almonte’s James Naismith invented the game in Springfield, Mass., in 1892, he later conceded that the sport took root in the agricultural heartland of Indiana.

“It was made for Indiana,” Naismith reportedly said in the late 1920s after witnessing the overflowing crowds watching the high school game.

Hoosiers’ James Blackmon Jr. looks for an open teammate.Pat McGrath /
Ottawa Citizen

For comparison’s sake, think about hockey’s heritage on frozen lakes and rivers — and then add capacity crowds into the mix. According to an Indianapolis Star article detailing the rich history of basketball in the state, the game took off because it could be played indoors in the winter, neatly sandwiched between the fall harvest season and the spring planting season.

In a pre-TV, pre-radio world, community pride was directly linked to basketball success. As small town played small town, larger and larger gymnasiums were built — at one point, 15 of the 16 largest gyms in the U.S. were based in Indiana — to feed the interest.

“It’s about farming, yeah, but it’s war,” Bob Frick said. “Our high school gym, most high school gyms in Indiana, are bigger than (the Ravens’ Nest),” he said.

The Hoosiers’ Stanford Robinson grabs his ankle during Indiana’s game against the Carleton Ravens at Carleton University on Monday, Aug 11.Pat McGrath /
Ottawa Citizen

“Three times bigger than this,” his wife, Rose, corrected.

Hollywood got into the act in 1986, with Hackman playing the starring role in the feel-good drama, Hoosiers, which was based on the success of the small-town team that won the 1954 state championship.

The university Hoosiers have won five NCAA titles, including the undefeated 1976 squad that played for infamous coach Knight.

While the Hoosiers are now in a rebuilding cycle, the passion of the fans never dwindles. It’s safe to say the state bleeds crimson and cream. The Ravens received 15 requests from Indiana-based media outlets to cover Monday’s game.

#11 Thomas Scrubb loses his head behind the ball during the match between Carleton Ravens and the Indiana Hoosiers at Carleton University Aug 11.Pat McGrath /
Ottawa Citizen

After defeating Université Laval by 40 points Friday to open their exhibition tour of Canada, the Hoosiers dropped a 109-101 decision to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sunday, and it didn’t go over well back in Indiana. The online forums were full of criticism.

It was a different story altogether on Monday. The Ravens, without head coach Dave Smart and star Philip Scrubb because they’re touring with the national team in Europe, came out flat. Indiana, led by the sharpshooting Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell (23 points), jumped out to a 27-11 lead after the first quarter.

The Ravens did come came to life with a six-point run to start the second quarter, but could only close the gap to 49-35 at halftime.

Thomas Scrubb (34 points) played an inspired second half, bringing the Ravens to within six points, but Indiana pushed back to maintain control in the final minutes.

“It took us a little while to get going, but we settled down a bit,” said acting Carleton head coach Rob Smart. “I still think there’s lots of work to do defensively, obviously. It’s great for us. We’re really appreciative of these (NCAA) programs coming up. It gives us something to talk about all year, how hard you have to play, the level of skill you’ve got to play with, so it’s good.”

The intensity of the Hoosiers on the court is impressive. The passion of Hoosiers fans in the seats is another story.

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